India’s ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi was set for a landslide victory on Monday in a by-election aimed at bringing her back to Parliament after she resigned to calm a political storm. But sizzling temperatures kept people indoors and only 40% of some one-million registered voters turned out in her home constituency of Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh state.
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The National Prosecuting Authority has expressed disappointment at Jacob Zuma’s acquittal on a charge of rape, while the Democratic Alliance said Zuma has emerged with his credibility as a leader severely damaged. Other parties have also called for a reform of rape laws.
Police impounded 63 taxis in Soshanguve, north of Pretoria, for operating with possibly fraudulent documents, Inspector Lucas Sithole said on Monday. ”Pretoria police and metro police impounded 63 taxis in an operation in Soshanguve on Monday for operating with possibly fraudulent registration and taxi operating documents,” said Sithole.
Rescuers battling to reach two Australian miners entombed in a collapsed gold mine said they were directly beneath the men late on Monday, with as little as 30cm of hard rock left to cut. Brant Webb (37) and Todd Russell (34) spread grout over loose rocks beneath their cage to prevent fresh rock falls when miners tunneling toward them from below finally break through.
The United Nations humanitarian chief hurriedly left a Darfur camp for displaced people on Monday when a crowd demonstrating for UN peacekeepers attacked a translator, accusing him of supporting the government, a UN spokesperson said. Jan Egeland and his entourage cut short their visit to Kalma camp when an NGO translator was manhandled.
At least 31 people have died as a searing heatwave brought temperatures of nearly 47ºC to central Pakistan, officials said on Monday. The hot spell comes amid a warning from the country’s top meteorologist that Pakistan faces a possible drought with no significant rain expected in the next two months.
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Former deputy president Jacob Zuma was found not guilty in the Johannesburg High Court on Monday of raping a 31-year-old HIV-positive woman at his Johannesburg home in November last year. Judge Willem van der Merwe found that Zuma and his accuser had consensual sex in Zuma’s main bedroom.
Australian spinner Shane Warne has hit back at former captain Steve Waugh, who claimed his team were too friendly with the English players during last year’s Ashes series. The teams often met after a day’s play in the series, which England won 2-1, and Waugh felt it contributed to the Australians’ surrender of the Ashes for the first time in 17 years.
Two homeopaths holding top positions in the organisation that regulates the conduct of all South African homeopaths are being investigated for apparent fraudulent qualifications. This is the latest scandal to hit the Allied Health Professionals Council of South Africa, a government-established statutory body.
South African telecommunications giant Telkom confirmed on Monday that it will not be pursuing a stake in Portugal Telecom. The local fixed-line operator confirmed in March that it had been approached by Portuguese investors to participate in a rival bid for the Portuguese operator, for which Sonaecom was bidding.